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Honda is restructuring its operations in North America, putting the continent’s top executive in
Marysville, a reflection of the company’s growing emphasis on this part of the world.

The shift will bring 50 jobs from California to Ohio.

Tetsuo Iwamura, who is head of Honda’s North American sales office in California, will move
to Ohio where he will oversee all of the company’s operations, Honda said this morning.

He is also being promoted to chief operating officer for Honda’s auto operations around the
world. He is already an executive vice president and member of the board that runs the company.

“These organizational changes will improve the speed of decision-making and the efficiency of
our business operations,” Iwamura said in a statement. “Our global customers desire new, exciting
and affordable automobile, motorcycle and power equipment products, and these changes will enhance
our ability to quickly bring our customers’ dreams to the market.”

Hidenobu Iwata, who is already based in Marysville, will be president of Honda North America
Shared Services, a new subsidiary, and he will continue to be president of Honda of America
Manufacturing.

With these moves, Honda is changing a structure that kept the sales and manufacturing
leadership in separate locations, with Iwamura in Torrence, Calif., and Iwata in Marysville. The
two offices often work together, but they were separate, each reporting to Honda’s headquarters in
Tokyo.

Iwamura already serves as president of Honda North America Inc. The difference is that this
title and role will now have a broader scope, as opposed to focusing mostly on sales. He will spend
much of his time traveling, but will be based in Marysville.

Honda has about 13,500 employees in Ohio, most of them in central Ohio, which makes it the
largest auto manufacturer in the state. The company’s local presence began when it opened a
motorcycle plant in Marysville in 1979; it started building cars on the Marysville campus in 1982.

In addition to the changes in North America, Honda’s main office in Japan named a new
chairman, Fumihiko Ike, who has held a variety of executive roles. He is filling a position that
has been vacant because of a retirement.